“Dotcom’s NZ extradition hearing cancelled”

“THE hearing to decide if internet piracy accused Kim Dotcom will be extradited to the United States has been postponed from August until at least November, and may not be until April next year.

That means the extradition hearing could be held more than two years after Dotcom was arrested after the Hollywood-style police raid on his mansion north of Auckland.

A spokeswoman for North Shore District Court told AAP Dotcom’s August date had been vacated and was now scheduled to start on November 21.

A back-up date of April 14 has also been set aside if further delays develop.

The hearing – which has now been delayed several times – is expected to take several weeks.

Dotcom and his co-accused were arrested in January, 2012, and an extradition hearing was meant to be held the next month.

However, after it was revealed police botched the raid’s search warrant and New Zealand’s spy agency the GCSB illegally spied on Dotcom, a German who had become resident in New Zealand, the case has become mired in delays and court action over evidence and charges.

The US is trying to extradite Dotcom, Finn Batato, Bram van der Kolk and Mathias Ortmann over allegations their Megaupload website netted more than $US175 million ($A184 million) in criminal proceeds.

The US says it cost Hollywood’s copyright owners more than $US500 million by offering pirated copies of movies and television shows.

Megaupload was shut down after the raid but Dotcom has since launched a similar site called Mega, which doesn’t use US-based servers.

Dotcom denies the charges and says he is a political target for Hollywood.”

Douglas McNabb and other members of the U.S. law firm practice and write and/or report extensively on matters involving Federal Criminal Defense, INTERPOL Red Notice Removal, International Extradition Defense, OFAC SDN Sanctions Removal, International Criminal Court Defense, and US Seizure of Non-Resident, Foreign-Owned Assets. Because we have experience dealing with INTERPOL, our firm understands the inter-relationship that INTERPOL’s “Red Notice” brings to this equation.

The author of this blog is Douglas C. McNabb. Please feel free to contact him directly at mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at one of the offices listed above.